


Friendships Last a Lifetime

by Yadirocks



Category: St. Louis cardinals-Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-05
Packaged: 2018-01-07 06:59:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1116878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yadirocks/pseuds/Yadirocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Yadier Molina is hurt in a violent home-plate collision, his best friend Adam Wainwright is there to help him get back what he lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not based on a real event.

It was beautiful, sunny day in St. Louis. The sun shone brightly on the Arch that stood only blocks away from Busch Stadium. Yes...this was a great day for baseball. Unless you were a catcher.  
Yadi tugged on the collar of his alternate jersey, the one that was made to look like the old Cardinals' uniforms. The temperature outside had reached a high of 103°, and when you combine that with having to play in already sweaty and hot gear, it wasn't the best feeling ever.  
Even so, Yadier would've never traded being at the ballpark for being anywhere else; even if he felt like he was being cooked right there on the spot.  
If it was hard for him, he didn't know how Adam Wainwright, his best friend and the pitcher currently on the mound, could handle the stress of pitching and the heat all at once. Yadier was having a hard enough time coping with the high temperature.  
Adam was doing great so far. He had only given up one earned run on four hits, allowing the Cardinals to have a 2-1 lead. Then, it seemed, he started to overheat.  
In the top of the sixth, Matheny sent Adam back out to the mound, having no reason to pull him yet. It seemed like a good decision at first, since Adam struck out the first batter. Then...he started to overheat.  
Yadi called for a curve ball high and on the inside corner. Adam nodded, but didn't get his location right, and the batter hit a bullet into the left field gap.  
Luckily, the runner stopped at third, the base coach holding him up when Matt Holliday finally threw the ball to the cutoff man. One out. A runner in scoring position. One hit could tie the game and send them to extra innings. The mere thought made Yadier want to groan out loud.  
The new batter, Mike Trout, stepped up to the plate. On the bright side, Yadi knew what to call, signaling for a fastball that was up and in.  
Trout swung with a home run swing, but instead of hitting it over the wall, he hit a pop fly right to Carlos Beltran, the Cardinals' best outfielder.  
The runner tagged up as soon as the catch was made. Yadi knew exactly what to do. Beltran threw a perfect strike to him from the outfield.  
Yadi turned to make the tag, thinking 'easy out'. That was before the runner barreled into him, making his mask go flying.  
His head hit the ground hard, but that pain was soon shrouded by unremarkable pain shooting through his left leg. Before he could even begin to do anything else, Yadier showed the umpire his glove. Amazingly, he had held on for the out.  
Yadier's head spun as the pain flared through him again. He bit down on his lip to keep from screaming. Finally, his mind had enough of the pain and suffering and slowly, Yadi slipped into darkness, leaving the pain behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is not based on a real event.

When Yadier woke up, he was in a room with white walls and white chairs and lay in a bed that had nothing but white sheets. Ugh. A hospital. How had he gotten here? He tried to remember, but the pounding in his head got more vicious the more he thought about it.  
Yadi shifted, trying to get into a more comfortable position. Suddenly, white-hot pain coursed through his leg. Great. Now he remembered.  
He tried hard to keep from crying out, instead allowing a groan to escape from his mouth. Someone placed a hand on his shoulder, making him jump slightly. This only caused his leg to go through more pain, in which the person grabbed his hand. Yadi gripped the person's hand tightly. Later, he would have to apologize for nearly breaking their hand.  
Finally, the pain subsided enough for him to open his eyes. His vision was unfocused, so he blinked a few times to clear his vision. When he did, he looked up into the face of his best friend, Adam Wainwright.  
Yadier looked around, trying to see if anyone else was in the room so that they wouldn't pop out of nowhere and make him jump six feet in the air again. When he saw that no one else was with him, he relaxed and looked up at Adam.  
"Ow," he said, smiling a little. Adam gave him a weak smile back. "How does your head feel?"  
Not really in the mood to think about whether he wanted to lie or not, he just said, "It hurts a little. Not too much, though. What have they said about my leg?"  
Adam chuckled. "You could tell it was broken even if you were looking at the scene from the Arch."  
Yadier groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. "How long am I out?"  
Adam looked at Yadi's leg, which was in a cast. "Mike said you can't participate in any of the games or practices until your leg heals. Which, the doctor estimated that it would take at least two or three months."  
Sighing, Yadi looked at his leg also. "What if I-"  
Adam placed a hand on his shoulder and cut him off as he said, "Don't you even think about trying to walk before the doctor tells you you can."  
Yadier rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. He was only mad because he knew that Adam was right. He hated it when Adam was right. In fact, he didn't enjoy it at all when he was wrong.  
The pitcher stared at the ground for a moment before telling him, "You have a slight concussion, too. He hit you pretty hard."  
So that was why his head hurt so bad...  
Just as Yadi was about to slip back into sleep, he thought of something that made him sit up. "Adam...how am I going to be able to catch, even when I come back?"  
Wainwright met Yadier's eyes with a look on his face that clearly said 'you read my mind'. "I don't know. We'll cross that bridge when we reach it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is not based on a real event.

"Come on, you stupid leg! Let me walk already!" Yadi griped, staring at the cast as if willing it to magically come off and his leg would be completely healed.  
When that didn't happened, he fell back onto the bed and crossed his arms. It was so boring when you couldn't go out. He'd been bedridden for two weeks now and had nothing to do but watch the games on television and stare at the ceiling. Yadier had to admit, he would rather walk through fire than have his leg be broken.  
His wife, Wanda, had been supportive enough, taking care of him these past few days while trying to entertain Yanuell and Arianna at the same time. Right now, she was sleeping in the living room. Yadier didn't blame her; juggling everything when your husband's bedridden must be exhausting.  
Yadier turned off the TV, staring at the ceiling and thinking about baseball. Yadi had been counting down the days until the doctor said he could finally walk since the second he had gotten the date.  
For now though, he had nothing to do but lay here and think. Not fun at all. Whenever he did go out every now and then, he had to use a wheelchair or crutches. It was pretty hard to get used to, but at least he got to move around and go out.  
A knock on his bedroom door disrupted his thoughts. He was expecting it to be Wanda coming in to ask him if he needed anything, but was surprised when Adam opened the door.  
"Sit up," the pitcher demanded. Yadier raised an eyebrow questioningly, but did as he was told. Adam was already rummaging through Yadi's drawers and throwing clean clothes at him.  
"What are you doing?"  
Adam turned, smiling at Yadier. "Don't tell me you want to stay here?"  
That's all the answer Yadi needed. He shook his head hard. Then, he asked, "Where are we going?"  
Adam threw a shirt at him that hit Yadi in the face. "Where do you think we're going? I can't pitch as good without you at least there to tell me what to do."  
Quickly, Yadi pulled on the shirt and stiffly pulled on the pair of pants Adam threw at him.  
After he'd changed, Adam handed him his crutches. With a goofy smile, the pitcher said, "You don't want to miss seeing me beat the crap out of the Brewers, do you?"  
Yadier shook his head, "No."  
"Then hurry up and let's get going!"  
With a quick goodbye to Wanda and the kids, Adam opened the door. "It's about time you got out. We all placed a bet on how long it would take for you to turn into a hermit."  
Yadier gave him a mock glare. "I'm not a hermit. I'm outside, aren't I?"  
Adam laughed, "Excuses, excuses."  
Yeah. Yadi had missed this. He took a deep breath of fresh air, taking it all in and enjoying it while it would last.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is not based on a real event.

As soon as Adam opened the door to the locker room, the familiar buzz of players laughing and gearing up for the game met Yadier's ears. "Hey, Yadi," he heard about several players say at once.  
Shane Robinson walked over, stopped when he saw Yadi, and grinned. "We all thought you fell in some hole or something. Or that maybe you crawled under a rock. Glad you finally got your butt off of that bed and outside, lazy."  
Yadier chuckled, "I missed you too, Shane."  
He sat down on the bench, setting his crutches aside. Every now and then, someone would come over to talk to him, ask him how things were going. It was nice, being able to be there again.  
Mike Matheny came in when it was nearly time for the game to start. "Well, boys, the lineup's the same as yesterday, except this time Waino is on the mound. Let's beat those Brewers!"  
Everyone cheered enthusiastically, pushing each other out of the door. Yadier stayed away from the chaos, waiting for the path to clear before grabbing his crutches and standing. Mike smiled at him. "Nice to see you here, Yadi."  
Yadier looked around, as if he was seeing everything for the first time. "Glad to be here, Mike."  
The game was going smoothly until the seventh inning. Adam had a shutout going, the Cardinals with a lead of 3-0. Then, Adam threw a pitch that just missed its target, and the batter managed to hit one to the wall for a double. Then, it seemed Adam got frustrated, and walked the next batter.  
Yadier wanted more than anything to go out there and talk to him, to calm him down enough for Adam to throw a strike. He wished that he was the one behind the plate instead of stuck in the dugout with his broken leg.  
He stared at his leg, glaring at it with intensity. Why couldn't it just suddenly heal so that he could go out there and talk to his pitcher?  
Adam glanced at him from the mound. Yadier made a gesture and mouthed 'calm down', smiling at Adam reassuringly.  
When Wainwright looked away, he took a deep breath. With a strong grip on the ball, he threw a curveball that reminded Yadi of the one he'd thrown to Carlos Beltran, who was with the Mets at the time, in the 2006 NLCS.  
This time, the batter didn't freeze like Beltran had, swinging for the fences but instead produced a ground ball to Pete Kozma. Kozma threw to third for that out and then David Freese made a quick throw to second. Double play. Two outs. Runner on first. Shutout still intact.  
Yadier breathed a sigh of relief and watched Adam make the batter pop the ball up to Matt Adams, who caught the ball easily for the third out.  
Adam came over to Yadier as soon as the inning was over. "You may be on the bench, but when you're here, I know what to throw and remember how to throw. It's like you're a good luck charm."  
He winked at Yadier before taking a seat at the end of the bench. Yadier stared down at his leg again. What if he was never able to come off of the bench again?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is not based on a real event.

A few weeks went by without much changing. A visit to the doctor told Yadier that he still had about a month and a half left until he could walk again. It frustrated the catcher, watching his team when they were struggling. The past ten games, the Cardinals were 4-6, and the four they won were decided by one run.  
Yadier tried as best as he could to at least be at some of the games, giving advice to the pitchers even on the bench. As of right now, though, the Cardinals were in Cincinnati for a three-game series that started the day before. Yadier would have done anything to go with them, but Wanda insisted that he needed to rest during this small break. "You're stressing too much," she would tell him. Every time he heard her say that, he would cross his arms and pout.  
Yanuell gave him a small smile. "You'll be better soon, Daddy."  
Yadier sighed, returning his gaze to the game. "I certainly hope so."  
Wanda put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. "Don't worry about your father, Yanuell. He's just crabby because he wants to play baseball."  
Yadier didn't even react, just kept his eyes on the game. Michael Wacha, a rookie sensation for the Cardinals last year, was pitching tonight. The kid had so much confidence that his catcher knew what was best, but now that it wasn't Yadier behind the plate, he looked lost. He had a 3-2 count on Joey Votto with a runner on second. "Changeup, Michael. Throw your changeup," Yadier said, as if Wacha could hear him. Now he knew what it felt like to be an observer. It sucked.  
As though Michael had heard him, he threw one of the nastiest changeups that Yadier had ever seen. Votto swung, missing and making himself look like a fool, trying to hit that pitch. Yadier smiled. "Good job, kid."  
Yanuell was watching the pitch, too, and said, "Daddy, when you get better, can you teach me how to throw like that?"  
He looked up at his father from the floor, his eyes wide and hopeful. Yadier smiled. "I don't think your old man could throw something like that. I'm sure that man right there wouldn't mind showing you, though," he said, pointing to Michael.  
Yanuell and Yadier returned their attention to the game. Michael made the batter, Shin-Soo Choo, pop the ball up to Jon Jay in center field for the final out of the game, the Cardinals winning only their fifth game in eleven games, 6-5. Another game decided by one run.  
Wanda came in from the kitchen. "Yadier, Mike called and said he wanted you to be at the game against the Pirates on Thursday. Something about Adam having a hard time with getting his pitches in the right location. He wants you to take a look and see if he's doing something wrong."  
Yadier sighed. "I already know what he's doing wrong. He's overthinking it."  
Wanda crossed her arms. "Then you can go there and tell him that on Thursday before the game. He said that Joe Kelly will be here to pick you up at four."  
Inwardly, Yadier groaned. Joe Kelly was known for his pranks and finding ways to get attention that weren't normal by any means. He liked Joe, but he knew that Shelby Miller would be with him, too, and both of them were jokers.  
Yadier was about to grab his crutches to go to his bedroom when Yanuell asked, "Daddy, can I go with you on Thursday?"  
Yadier looked down. "I don't know, Yanuell..."  
His son got on his knees and stuck out his lip. "Please, Daddy?"  
Finally, Yadier gave in. "Okay, fine. But you can't run off. I can't catch up with you this time."  
Yanuell grinned with excitement. "I won't, I promise."


End file.
